Ram Dass Khalsa, known professionally as Ram Dass, is a producer, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and touring musician whose work moves across contemporary folk, ambient, world, instrumental, and contemplative music. His approach is rooted in collaboration, improvisation, and a lifelong engagement with a wide range of musical traditions.
Ram Dass is at the forefront of a movement of musicians exploring the role music can play in bringing healing, solace, and connection to people’s lives. His own work draws equally from the beauty and difficulty of human experience, including joy, loss, grief, and recovery.
A classically trained clarinetist, Ram Dass grew up in a family of professional musicians and developed an unusually broad musical vocabulary from an early age. That background continues to inform his work as both an artist and producer, where arrangement, performance, songwriting, and sound are often treated as parts of the same creative process.
Ram Dass has performed internationally for many years, most notably as a member of Snatam Kaur’s touring ensemble. He performed at the 2019 GRAMMY Awards Premiere Ceremony and has also appeared at Carnegie Hall. His live and touring credits include Snatam Kaur, Roscoe Mitchell and Joseph Jarman of the Art Ensemble of Chicago, Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul and Mary, Guster, Jahnavi Harrison, and others.
In 2021, Ram Dass collaborated with the duo AWARÉ to create the EP And Now He Has Wings, a deeply personal musical journey through grief and recovery following the death of his newborn son. The EP includes “The Water Poem,” “Heart Takes Flight,” “To Become Born,” and the title track. His solo releases include the album Elegy.
As a producer, engineer, mixer, and multi-instrumentalist, credited on many projects as Ram Dass Khalsa, he has worked with artists including Snatam Kaur, Ajeet, Mirabai Ceiba, Jai-Jagdeesh, Nirinjan Kaur, Simrit, Ganavya, and others. His production work frequently extends beyond the studio itself to arrangement, instrumentation, songwriting, and the broader development of a recording.
Notable Credits
Ram Dass produced the score for the film AWAKEN (2022), directed by Bob Degus and starring Gabrielle Anwar, Henry Ian Cusick, and Dave Baez.
He has collaborated with the United Ukrainian Ballet and Ukrainian International Ballet, companies formed in response to the displacement of Ukrainian dancers following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Live and touring credits include Snatam Kaur, Roscoe Mitchell and Joseph Jarman of the Art Ensemble of Chicago, Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul and Mary, Guster, and Jahnavi Harrison.
Production and recording credits include Snatam Kaur, Ajeet, Mirabai Ceiba, Jai-Jagdeesh, Nirinjan Kaur, Simrit, Ganavya, and Ram Dass & AWARÉ.
